As many as 117 million more people could face water shortages if global temperatures increase 2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels compared to a 1.5-degree Celsius increase in temperatures, a new study has warned.

There is an alarming 81 per cent decline in freshwater species abundance since 1970s and millions of people are at risk from water scarcity and pollution, the WWF's 2018 Water Stewardship Brief states.

Water is one of the world’s gravest risks, according to the Global Risks Report published earlier this week at the World Economic Forum in Davos. And the situation is actually worse than it might seem at first glance.